Shijiazhuang, literally, "The Stones' Village", is a prefecture-level city and the capital of Hebei province, China. It is about 320 km south of Beijing.
Located in the vicinity of the North China Plain, Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei Province, neighbors Beijing and Tianjin in the north, Bohai Sea in the east, and lies against the continuous Taihang Mountain in the west. Covering an area of 15.8 thousand square kilometers (6100.4 square miles), it has 6 districts, 12 counties, 5 county-level cities and 1 national-level new and high-tech development zone under its prefecture. Shijiazhuang has a population of 9.395 million, 2.313 million of whom live in the urban area.
Economy
Shijiazhuang is an important industrial city and is considered the economic center of Hebei. Main industries include textile-, pharmaceutical- and chemical-related industries. North China Pharmaceutical Group Corp (NCPC) located in Shijiazhuang is a leading pharmaceutical manufacturer in China. In 2002, NCPC achieved domestic sales revenue USD 700 million and export sales USD 100 million.
History
Shijiazhuang is often referred to as being lucky in recent Chinese history. Once a small village, it developed under modern railway construction. A century ago, when the Lu-Han Railway stretched to the former Shijiazhuang Village, it brought with it new opportunities, opening an industrial chapter in Shijiazhuang. No one could have predicted that this small, unknown village would have developed rapidly into the modern capital city of Hebei Province. Geography Shijiazhuang stands on the edge of the North China Plain at the foot of the Taihang Mountains, which lie to the west. The city stands south of the Hutuo River.
Transportation
Shijiazhuang is a transportation hub: it is at the intersection point of the Beijing-Guangzhou, Taiyuan-Dezhou, and Shuozhou-Huanghua railroads and many expressways, including the Beijing-Shenzhen and Taiyuan-Cangzhou Expressways. The Shijiazhuang Daguocun International Airport has flight connections to major cities in China.
